Signal for mills



(No Model.)

W. H. BONNER.

SIGNAL FOR MILLS.

No. 410,502. Patent ed Sept. 3, 1889.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

IVILL II. DONNER, OF COLUMBUS, INDIANA.

SIGNAL FOR MILLS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 410,502, dated September 3, 1889. Application filed Marc 6, 1889. Serial No. 302,112. (No model.)

To aZZ whom, it may canccrn:

3e it known that I, \VILL II. DONNER, of Columbus, in the county of Bartholomew and State of Indiana, have ll'lVQll'tCtl a new and useful Improvement in Signals for Mills; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

The object of the present invention is to provide means for indicating a choke in the spout or chute of flouring or other mills, grainelevators, or like situations where material is delivered through a spout, so that the miller or attendant is notified at once not only that there is an obstruction, but the point where it has occurred, and in this way the obstruction can be removed or the defect cured so as to prevent all danger of serious breakage or disturbance, which so often happens by the stoppage of the flow of the material and its consequent backing up in the spout.

In carrying out my invention I place a mov able plate within the spout outside the line of the normal current of the material, so as not to be operated under ordinary circumstances, but only in case the material backs up or extends beyond the line of its normal flow. inclined spouts I arrange the plate above the line of the normal flow, and in vertical spouts I provide a pocket to one side, so as to support the plate entirely outside the line of spout.

My invention consists of a pivoted plate located within the spout above or outside the line of the normalcurrent of the material,with an arm or projection connected to the plate and extendingoutside the spout and adapted to close an electric circuit in which an alarm or annunciator is included, the plate being moved by choking up the spout, when the grain or other material ceases to flow from the bottom end thereof.

In the accompanying drawings, Fi ure 1 represents a sectional view of the spout with the movable plate in place, the terminals of the alarm-eircuit also being shown. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the spout with the end broken away to show the plate in position within the spout. Figs. 3 and represent modifications. Fi 5 is a sectional View show in g the inven tion as applied to a vertical spou t.

I11 the drawings, A represents the spout, which may be inclined, as shown in the first freely four figures, or vertical, as in Fig. 5. These spouts may represent the spouts of any flouring or any mill orgrain-elcvator or other con veyer-chute. At a convenient point therein I locate a movable plate a, which. in the inclined spouts is arranged above the normal current of the flowing grain or other material, and in the vertical spout preferably within a pocket in the wall of the spout, so that the alarm will be given only under abnormal conditions. The plate (I is shown in Figs. 1. and 2 as depending within the spout from a shaft 1), which has its hearings in the side walls of the spout. One terminal 0 of an alarm-circuit is in connection with the shaft, while the other terminal I) is in connection with the contactpin 0 on the side of the spout. The shaft has an angular extension, which, in the normal position of the plate a, is above the contactpin e,- but in the movement of the plate a the angular extension f of the shaft comes in contact withthe pin 6 and closes the circuit, causing the alarm to sound.

In Figs. 3 and l I have shown a modification in which the shaft maybe movable or fixed, and if fixed the projecting arm f may be an extension of the plate and adapted to make contact with the contactpin 6, this movement being permitted through a slot in the upper part of the spout. In case the plate is fixed to the shaft and the shaftmovable, the extension f is permanently connected to the shaft and operates in the same way.

In Fig. at I have shown still another modification, in which the extension f of the plate a makes contact with two independent contact-pins simultaneously, thus closing the circuit and sounding the alarm, in this case neither of the terminals being in connection directly with the movable plate or shaft.

In Fig. 5 I have shown the invention as applied to a vertical spent, with the movable plate arranged in a pocket therein, and any of the forms which I have just described may be applied to the plate, as shown in connection with the vertical spout.

It will be understood that I do not limit my self in the application of the described alarm to a spout or chute, as it maybe applied with equally good results to a bin or receptacle to indicate when it has been filled or partially filled, and for this purpose a movable plate may be supported near the top, or a series of them may be located at different points between the top and bottom of the bin to indicate the quantity of grain or other material which has been emptied into the bin. The operation of the device will be precisely the same in this connection as when used for a spout, excepting that it need not be so sensitive.

As it sometimes happens that several movable plates in different spouts are connected with the same alarm, it is desirable to have some means of indicating to the miller orthe operator the particular spout which sets off the alarm, and I provide for this by providing an angular extension :6 from one end of the movable shaft which extends horizontally near the top of the spout; but when the plate is moved this extension is thrown above the line of the spout, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1, and thus indicates the particular part of the spout in which the choke has occurred.

I do not claim in this application a movable plate within the spout, with a stop also within the spout in the line of movementof the plate, the plate and stop forming terminals of an electric circuit in which is included a hell or indicator which is adapted to be sounded by the contact of the plate with the stop, as this is the subject of a separate application, filed August 14, 1888, Serial No. 281,942.

I claim as my invention- ,1. In combination with a spout,a plate pivoted within the same, an arm f, extending to the outside connected to or forming a part of said plate, and an electric circuit including an alarm, the movement of said arm f being adapted to close the said circuit and sound the alarm, substantially as described.

2. In combination with a spent, a plate pivoted within the same, an arm f, extending to the outside, an electric circuit including an alarm, the said circuit being closed by the movement of said arm, and an extension as outside the spout and in connection with the pivotal plate, whereby the position of said plate is indicated by the position of the said extension, substantially as described. I

In testimony whereof I have signed my n ame to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

I WILL I-I. DONNER.

\Vitnesses:

F. L. MIDDLETON, WALTER P. KEENE. 

